View full sizeMichael DeMocker / The Times-PicayuneWashington Redskins defensive back Cedric Griffin (20) makes a diving pass defense on New Orleans Saints wide receiver Marques Colston (12) in the third quarter during the game between the Washington Redskins and New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sunday, September 9, 2012.

FIRST: From at least one quarterback's perspective, one of the biggest reasons for the New Orleans Saints' lack of offensive rhythm last week was the poor performance by the receivers. That was the first thing ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer pointed to when asked what the Saints need to fix on offense after their 40-32 loss to the Washington Redskins.

"I think the receivers have to play better. I thought the receivers played really poorly," Dilfer said. "They weren't getting open, they were being grabbed a little bit -- I thought Washington got away with a lot of grabbing in the secondary - but they weren't pulling out of those grabs. They were kind of quitting on routes. (Marques) Colston had the fumble again down in scoring territory, makes that a different game.

"Listen, I'm not always going to be apologetic to the quarterback, but I kind of know their offense, and I know where Drew (Brees) was throwing it. Earlier on in the game there were four or five balls that were kind of wide to the outside, and those were routes that the receivers need to keep running on. They're pulling up instead of running out of them.

"They've got to play better because they're going to throw the ball. That's who they are."

It's an interesting observation, because Brees completed less than 50 percent of his

View full sizeMichael DeMocker / The Times-PicayuneNew Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) is off the mark on an incomplete pass to fullback Jed Collins (45) during the game between the Washington Redskins and New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sunday, September 9, 2012.

passes (24 of 52) for the first time since 2006. And when I took a closer look at all of those incomplete passes during this week's film study, I made a lot of notations where I either wrote, "miscommunication?" or "well-covered," especially on some of those early three-and-outs.

Brees missed Colston by a yard on the first play of the game on a quick timing throw, for example, where it was clear that at least one of them missed their mark.

Obviously, it would take a more intimate knowledge of the play designs to assign blame to either Brees or the receivers in each case - and chances are many of the balls would have fallen incomplete regardless. It's worth stressing that the Washington Redskins secondary gave a fantastic performance, despite making the risky decision to spend most of the afternoon in man-to-man coverage.

Still, it was also blatantly clear that the Saints receivers were much less effective than usual. Colston looked particularly off on a couple of occasions compared to his usual standard, including the fumble and a dropped pass in the third quarter. That was the only official "drop" of the game, though receiver Joe Morgan also dropped a pass that was nullified by a penalty. And Morgan also ran a route where Brees missed him by at least three yards, leading to one of those, "miscommunication?" notations.

The Saints also averaged only 3.6 yards after the catch Sunday, which ranks 31st in the NFL according to ESPN Stats and Information -- well below their usual standard.

No one in the Saints' locker room pointed to any specific lack of effort by the receivers this week, though when Coach Aaron Kromer was asked if finishing routes was one of those attention-to-details areas that need to be fixed, he said yes and acknowledged that that the timing of routes was "off."

Brees spoke more vaguely about the need to get in sync with receivers and get into the rhythm they're all accustomed to.

View full sizeMichael DeMocker / The Times-PicayuneNew Orleans Saints wide receiver Lance Moore (16) can't hang on to a pass as he is defended by Washington Redskins free safety DeJon Gomes (24) during the game between the Washington Redskins and New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sunday, September 9, 2012.

Morgan obviously talked about his need to keep developing after his inconsistent debut. Colston wasn't available in the locker room after Dilfer made his comments. But tight end David Thomas - who was a target near the goal line on one of those incomplete passes listed as "well-covered" - said the receivers hold themselves to a higher standard than what they displayed against the Redskins.

"As a receiver you've got to get open and catch the ball," Thomas said. "And if there's tight coverage, I think in our offense we expect to go up and get the ball. That's as much as anything, going up and competing for the ball and coming down with it."

Anyone who's watched the Saints' offense for the last six years expects the same thing. And although the Saints might be thin at the receiver position if Devery Henderson is still out with a concussion Sunday against the Carolina Panthers, I still expect that this chemistry problem will be a one-week anomaly rather than the start of a disturbing trend in 2012.

... AND 10:

1. NO NEED TO YELL: It's natural to blame coaching whenever a team commits as many mental errors as the Saints did last Sunday with 12 penalties among other mistakes. And many observers naturally wondered if a screaming Sean Payton on the sideline might have helped to whip the guys into shape a little quicker. However, offensive tackle Zach Strief insisted that no coach was needed to make him feel any worse after he committed two drive-killing false start penalties against the Redskins.

"The coaches know that I'm more upset about that than anyone could ever ... You can come over and call me whatever you want, it's not gonna make me feel nearly as bad as I do putting us in a third-and-10," Strief said. "So I think a lot of people say, 'Well, Coach Payton would have yelled at him and then he wouldn't have done it again.' Well, I'm not trying to do it. I mean, it's not intentional. And again, flinching is never OK. It's a mistake. And those are the types of things that kept us from getting in a rhythm. But no one needed to yell at me. I was plenty angry at myself."

2. QUOTE OF THE WEEK: There's been some noise this week out of Carolinaabout how offended the Panthers were last year when the Saints ran up the score on them in Week 17 while chasing some NFL records in a 45-17 rout. But FOX-8's Sean Fazende shrewdly went back and watched the NFL Network's Sound FX broadcast following that game. And after the Saints took a knee to run out the final two minutes, Panthers Coach Ron Rivera was heard telling Payton, "That was classy of you."

Not classy enough for their taste, apparently.

3. DISTURBING STAT OF THE WEEK: Brees put the rarity of the Saints' loss in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in perspective this week when he pointed out that it had been "probably 500 days since we had lost in that building." And he actually underestimated. It had been 616 days since the Saints last lost a regular-season game at home, to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 17 of the 2010 season.

4. DISTURBING TREND OF THE WEEK: The Redskins have been like kryptonite to Brees since he joined the Saints in 2006. He's had four of his worst performances against Washington, as pointed out by Times-Picayune researcher Gene Guillot, who dug up the following numbers:

2006: 207 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT, 59.9 rating

2008: 216 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs, 69.8 rating

2009: 419 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, 102.3 rating (though 173 yards and one touchdown came during the fourth quarter and overtime of an unforgettable comeback).

2012: 339 yards, 3TDs, 2INTs, 70.9 rating

5. DISTURBING RANKING OF THE WEEK: The defense ranks last in the NFL through one week, having allowed 459 yards. At least they can only go up from there.

6. TWEETS OF THE WEEK:

- "Hey Jed - What is your vertical leap?" - @Saints (the Saints' official Twitter account, responding to a photo of fullback Jed Collins leaping high into the air during pregame introductions).

- "Haha may surprise U but it's a RB room best 34 inches - @JedCollins45 (though we have not yet confirmed the authenticity of Collins' claim).

- "what a DOPEY way to LOSE a game." - @SkiddyDaMusic (summing up last Sunday's loss more accurately and succinctly than we did in thousands of words of copy).

7. MUST-READS OF THE WEEK:

- For the second week in a row, we have a great feature on how new Denver Broncos cornerback Tracy Porter and new Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning still have not talked about Porter's legendary Super Bowl XLIV interception yet - this one from Sports Illustrated's Peter King. This time it's even more relevant since Porter duplicated the feat last Sunday night to help Manning win this time.

8. BOUNTY THOUGHT OF THE WEEK: I planned to include this take on the latest bounty developments from Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio among the must-reads, since I share his skeptical view on whether NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the suspended players will have any substantial talks when they meet next week. But I decided to give this its own category since it's such a hot topic.

I do think it's a good sign that Goodell and the players have agreed to talk next week instead of the commissioner simply re-issuing his suspensions as quickly as possible. And I still think the best way to end this crippling standoff would be to work toward a settlement and some admissions of wrongdoing on both sides. But I won't hold my breath. Neither side has given any indication that they will back down so far, and as Florio pointed out, these latest statements certainly don't sound like two sides aiming to find a middle ground.

9. UNIFORMITY: The Saints will be wearing black jerseys and gold pants at Carolina on Sunday. And as usual, I turned to our resident Saints uniform expert Bradley Handwerger of WWLTV.com for some historical context. According to Bradley, the Saints have worn black on gold three times in Week 2 during the Payton-Brees era, all on the road. And they are 1-2 in those games (a loss at TampaBay in 2007, a loss at Denver in 2008 and a win at Philadelphia in 2009). At least they're trending in the right direction.

10. FEARLESS PREDICTION FOR WEEK 2: The Panthers don't score a touchdown until the fourth quarter. ... Call me crazy, but I was actually impressed by some aspects of the Saints defense when I did my film study last week, despite the 40 points and 459 yards they coughed up. And I think they'll earn some respect this week.

I don't think they'll be dominant or dynamic this season. But I liked the way they stopped the bleeding on a lot of drives, forcing field goals and fourth-down conversion attempts. I was especially impressed with end/tackle Cameron Jordan, linebacker Curtis Lofton and tackle Brodrick Bunkley.

Take away those two decimating penalties in the second half (pass interference on Roman Harper on fourth down and 12 men on the field on Patrick Robinson during a punt), and we'd be talking about how gritty and gutty they were to keep the game within reach.